President Donald Trump delivered remarks at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City on Tuesday, criticizing the global body for not living up to its full potential and celebrating the United States’ efforts to end wars around the world.
Trump delivered nearly an hourlong speech at the 80th anniversary of the General Assembly. He began his remarks by saying his teleprompter wasn’t working and a “bad escalator” at the U.N.’s New York headquarters.
The president criticized the U.N. for not being there for the United States as it worked to negotiate an end to global conflicts.
“The U.N. has such tremendous potential. I’ve always said it. It has such tremendous, tremendous potential, but it’s not even coming close to living up to that potential for the most part,” he said. “At least for now, all they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up.”
“It’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve war,” Trump continued.
While Trump continued to jab at the technical difficulties throughout his speech, he also frequently highlighted U.S. efforts under his leadership to end conflicts around the world. He said it was sad that he had to do them alone and the U.N. “did not even try to help.”
He repeated a point from his campaign that the Russia-Ukraine war would have never begun under his leadership, and said he thought he would have had success in ending the yearslong war due to his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump also criticized some U.N. members for seeking to recognize Palestinian statehood as the conflict between militant group Hamas and Israel continues.
“The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists for their atrocities,” he said. “This would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including Oct. 7, even while they refuse to release the hostages or accept a ceasefire.”
Trump called for an end to the war in Gaza “immediately” and said he has been “deeply engaged” in seeing it come to an end and called for all hostages, alive and dead, to be returned.
The president also highlighted the U.N.’s work on climate change. He argued that the U.N. was wrong several decades ago to warn so sternly about global warming and said the warning was issued by “stupid people that have cost their countries fortunes.” He criticized former President Barack Obama for his carbon footprint, flying to Hawaii for golf, and said China is the world’s largest producer of carbon dioxide.
Trump championed his administration’s efforts to not let the United States be “taken advantage of by the world” any longer.
“As you probably noticed, I unleashed massive energy production and science, historic executive orders to hunt for oil, but we don’t have to do much hunting, because we have the most oil of any nation anywhere,” he said.
He also highlighted his tariff agenda, which impacted many of the member states in the U.N. Trump said the tariffs are to protect U.S. “sovereignty and security,” particularly against countries that had “taken advantage” of the Biden administration.
Trump told the other world leaders that he hoped they would again visit the U.S. when the 2026 FIFA World Cup is hosted in North America and the 2028 Olympics will be held in Los Angeles.
Trump, seemingly reading off the teleprompter that appeared to once again be working, closed his remarks with an inspirational message to the other leaders.
“Whether you have come from north or south, east or west, near or far, every leader in this beautiful fall today represents a rich culture, a noble history and a proud heritage that makes each nation majestic and unique, unlike anything else in human history or any other place on the face of the Earth,” he said. “From London to Lima, from Rome to Athens, from Paris to Seoul, from Cairo to Tokyo and Amsterdam to right here in New York City, we stand on the shoulders of the leaders and legends, generals and giants, heroes and titans who won and built our beloved nations.”
“So together, let us uphold our sacred duty to our people and to our citizens. Let us protect their borders, ensure their safety, preserve their cultures, treasures and traditions and fight, fight, fight for their precious dreams and their cherished freedoms,” Trump later added. “And in friendship and really a beautiful vision, let us all work together to build a bright, beautiful planet.”
